


Mine As Well

by Moonlight91



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Custody Arrangements, Dramedy, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-07-29 17:16:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7692862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlight91/pseuds/Moonlight91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle opens her door one night to find a newborn on her doorstep with specific instructions from the birth parent the child is hers to care for. She decides to raise the baby as her son while the birth father is not aware of his existence.<br/>Rating is subject to go up in the later future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Change of Plans

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to rewrite this in the original structure I had in mind when I first had this idea forming in my head around April 2014 because I really couldn't write this at all in the direction it was going so it was either abandon it all together or change it so I thought to go back to the basics. There are several parts I am keeping as they are part of the plot and other portions I am going to expand on. This first chapter is pretty similar originally but the next one is where the changes will become much more noticeable. Thank you for your patience and enjoy.:)

The afternoon traffic had only begun by the time Seumas Gold parked his car into the parking garage outside of his Manhattan apartment. It was unusual for him to come home in the middle of the afternoon if at all these days since meeting clients resulted in making his downtown law office practically a second home. However, an unexpected decision between both parties resulted in the discovery of new evidence causing the case to go into his favor which allowed him to head home early. 

Taking a deep breath, Gold got out of the car grateful his right leg still had a bit of a strength left since the car accident six months previous resulted in his leg to no longer function properly without an aid, a struggle in which Gold recently began to accept.

He slowly walked towards the elevator taking nervously clicking his cane onto the floor seeing the numbers increase, uncertain of what he was going to find in the penthouse floor.

For nearly a month, Mr. Gold suspected his wife of ten years Milah might have been having an affair. The little things which lead him to be suspicious came from noticing she immediately hung up on the phone whenever he would be in the same room, her regular trips around New England resulted in the length of the trip increasing and her expenses doubling. Rather than complaining about his work habits as she did in the past, Milah no longer pointed them out even ignoring him altogether where even an accidental touch began to repulse her. Whether it was the stress of his caseload or the shame of becoming a cripple, the suspicions consumed him to the point where Gold hired one of his more trusted private investigators on his retainer. The private investigator provided evidence within the first two days but the amount of dedication he placed in his work allowed provided Gold with at least two weeks’ worth of photographic evidence.

From what the private investigator discovered, Milah began seeing a struggling model in his late twenties with a questionable record named Killian Jones for the past six weeks. There was also evidence of transactions from their joint account going into a strange account belonging to Mr. Jones. When first being told about this, Gold became unusually calm about the situation; the marriage between him and Milah slowly fizzle out within the last three years as they desperately tried to have a child after he was discharged in a last ditched effort but each failed attempt lead to Milah constantly placing the blame on him for not having a child due to his obsession in overworking.  

Mr. Gold entered his home somewhat hoping Milah was out in order to plan out the best way in confronting her. Mistaken as he was, Milah was home and judging by the sounds coming from their bedroom; she was not alone.

Livid and seeing red, Gold decided to scare them heading towards his study picking up his gun from the back drawer then going into his safe to switch them with blank bullets as Milah had trouble telling them apart. Due to the cane creating a clanking sound, it became necessary for Gold to tightly grip onto the railing as he began limping towards the stairs. Finally up the stairs, he slowly walked into his bedroom finding the door slightly opened. He could have sworn Milah became louder with each passing seconding leading him to believe perhaps Milah intentionally wanted to get caught. Gold slowly opened the door, rolling his eyes to find Milah’s back facing him with who he had assumed was Jones. Deciding enough was enough; Gold drew his gun firing on the headboard, leaving the lovers in a haste to cover themselves whilst clinging onto one another as their interrupter pointed his gun to them.

“Seumas, what the hell are you doing here?” screaming as though she were the offended party looking frightened, unaware of her husband’s next actions.

“Didn’t expect me home dearie?” He shot another bullet straight to the wall freaking the couple enough to get them out of bed.

Milah picked up a nearby robe as Jones quickly up on his jeans giving Gold a smug look causing Gold to punch his rival in the eye knocking him down. It was not enough as Gold hit Jones with his cane over and over until Milah got on top of him.

“Are you mad? Stop it, you’ll kill him!!!” screamed Milah, placing a struggle on her husband. She got pushed off where she noticed Gold’s gun on the floor then aimed it to his temple causing him to stop to turn towards them. In the distraction, Jones had got up and shoved Gold where he took his cane knocking so hard it would have been nearly difficult to get up without assistance.

Dazed and injured, Gold’s vision began to blue but the shape took the form of Milah standing over him in a black dress which he assumed was new going over to a newly dressed Killian discussing vacation plans, laughing and displaying acts of affection towards one another as he lay on the bedroom floor semi-conscious.

All of a sudden, Gold began to slightly feel his legs again causing him to stand up and fire the gun back at the pair grabbing their attention. “You both have five minutes to leave my home and this time, I won’t miss.” Hook ran off as Milah crept to the closet to collect her overnight bag picking up her emergency clothes and toiletries as Gold realized he would need to change the locks and throw her belonging out by morning. Milah walked out of the room with her head held high staring at her husband who tried to get his grip as he maintained his composure watching her head towards the front door.

“Just answer me this, why?” he asked, Milah turned her back towards raising her eyebrow and produced a laugh as she stared at her husband holding on to the railings of the staircase with his legs trembling.

“Seumas, you’re so pathetic. Did you honestly think I would stay with a sniveling, little imp of a man who can’t even walk with two legs?” He managed to down the stairs walking straight towards her refusing to give her the last laugh. “After this stupid little stunt of yours, I will be taking every single penny from you when the courts discover their prized barrister’s exploding temper problem.” He desperately wanted to hit her as he finally saw his wife for the heartless gold digger she truly was but even his temper had limits. “Can’t even do it can you? Have fun limping back up.” By the time the door slammed on Gold’s face, he began hearing the car to take off with the image of Milah and Jones laughing at him.

After what felt an eternity, he headed into his study smashing any items that were in his path.

***********

**_Four Months Later_ **

Belle panted as she ran from the subway platform towards a trendy eatery in Greenwich called _Granny’s_ hoping her boss wouldn’t reprimand her or at worse fire her due to it being the third time this month she had been several minutes late for work. This time however, she could blame the subway traffic as it was the time of day where traffic increased causing cars to easily full up with the next one arriving within 5-10 minutes later. Heading towards her locker, she got her apron and tied her hair into a bun; the locker door was slammed causing Belle to jump as she saw her friend Ruby greeting her.  “Good afternoon sweetie, WOW!!! Ariel wasn’t kidding when she said you got a new look; I almost didn’t recognize you, so tell me _Blondie_ what is with the Marilyn Monroe hair?”

She tried not to be embarrassed about her golden blonde hair with Ruby scanning her, “I thought because we get a lot of wealthy yuppies, a change in hair would get me bigger tips. Don’t be jealous Granny scolded your red highlights last month.” Leaving Ruby speechless, Belle headed towards the bar room to find her shift schedule when Ruby caught up with her once again. “Oh before I forget, Granny’s surgery is tomorrow. Do you mind taking over my shift? I’ll cover for you next time and will give you half of the tips.”

Due to Granny’s heart attack the previous month, Ruby moved back to her family home in Brooklyn and began to place an effort in running the business. While the work continued to stress her, Ruby persisted as the rest of the staff showed support and Granny’s sarcastic remarks relieving tension.   

“Yeah sure, you don’t even need to ask. Give Granny my love.” Ruby hugged Belle and went into the back room for her break as Belle began her shift. She went towards patio section, turning her attention towards a beautiful woman at least fifteen years older than her who appeared from the pages of _Vogue_ magazine. “Hi, my name is Belle and I will be your server this afternoon. Shall we get started with some delicious orange ice tea?” handing her the menu trying her best not to gawk at how stylish she looked.

The woman looked at her as though she was trying to study her instead of the menu. “Actually I would like to get a Long Island Ice Tea along with a Caesar salad.” Belle flinched already realizing the situation she was in, it is against restaurant policy for minors to serve alcohol but she looked around noticing the other servers were busy plus she wanted to get as many tips as she could today. Belle reluctantly wrote down the order until she observed the woman’s abdomen appeared to be large enough to state she was pregnant. While Belle had a poor way of estimating the correct amount of months, she guessed it must have been late first trimester.

“I am sorry ma’am, I’m only 18 and Granny’s has this policy were you need to be over 21 to serve alcohol.” She continued, “It’s none of my business but I don’t think you should be drinking.” The woman gave Belle a death stare where she points out the client’s stomach letting her know there was no confusion for being overweight. She knew it wasn’t her business what others did to their bodies, but Belle was not willing to risk getting fired or deported because some bored housewife refused to listen to her pediatrician. 

“Oh my goodness, I sometimes forget. You are such an adorable little thing for observing when most of my friends hardly noticed. Bring me your suggestion along with the salad.” Belle hurried along with the order while working on her other tables hoping she wouldn’t say the wrong thing. At times she stopped by to check on the pregnant woman who in turn gave Belle a strange vibe as though the girl were a lab rat or working class trash. Later when Belle started clearing the patio for the dinner rush, she noticed the pregnant woman’s tab had not been picked up. To her surprise, she left her not only a $100 tip but also a business card with a message on the back.

**_If you need to earn some extra money, call me at this number_ **

**_Milah Gold_** **.**

Belle forgot about the incident for the rest of the day when she headed back to her apartment on Washington Square. She opened the door greeted by trapped steam as Ariel forgot to turn on the fan while ridding the water from the pasta bowl into the sink.

“Open a window Belle, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes!” shouted the redhead. Doing as her roommate instructed, Belle opened the window letting out the air and set up the table. The girls spend rest of the night eating pasta and looking over their notes for their exam on _Lolita_ the following morning and peer reviewing their essay.

Belle never could believe how her luck changed since moving to New York from Melbourne four months earlier. After graduating from high school, Belle began working two jobs in order to save up for a plane ticket as she eagerly waited for her letter to arrive. Even though she was given financial aid for the University of Melbourne, Belle’s dream was to live in the states where she needed to wait a year until she got her letter for NYU. However by the time she got her acceptance letter, the housing department no longer had spaces available leading her to spend the first two weeks in New York living at a hostel in Brooklyn spending her days reading the ads for places until she stopped by the campus for orientation finding a notice requesting for a roommate not far from the campus.

Desperate and exhausted, Belle met with the tenants; a plucky redhead named Ariel and a tall brunette named Ruby who were looking for a third person after their other friend Mary Margaret recently moved out to get married. Both Ariel and Ruby hoped whoever answered their ad would be older since the college sophomores wanted someone as dependable as them where Belle defied their expectations and provided a deposit along with the first two months’ rent causing Ariel to let her guard down allowing Belle to move in that afternoon with Ruby recommending her applying at her grandmother’s café several days later.

Within a week of moving in, the girls easily got along becoming fast friends. There were differences the roommates dealt with such as Belle being up several hours a week throughout the summer skyping with her family or someone forgetting to do their chores but there was a family unit in the apartment where Ariel took her roommates to her family’s beach home in Martha’s Vineyard durng the labor day weekend. At the gathering, Belle was finally introduced to Ruby’s childhood friends; the former roommate with an angelic face named Mary Margaret and her husband Officer David Nolan who spent the majority of the trip telling everyone tales of their honeymoon in Maui or embarrassing stories of high school leaving Ariel and Belle laughing at the moments Ruby pretended she had no idea what Mary Margaret was talking about.

Throughout the next month, Milah frequented Granny’s during lunch or dinner. Sometimes alone or at times she brought a few people who looked in the same circle, always asking for Belle to serve her. Their conversations appeared harmless as Milah would often ask about Australia causing Belle to realize early on it was not in matter of genuine interest but in being assured the stereotypes exists. During those times, she rolled her eyes and humored the women even though Belle wanted to throw their water at them when hearing the comment over a “pet kangaroo”. Other times the conversations would be about the current day, weather, and suggestions for what kind of pin would suit the hairstyle Milah tried on for that specific day or sometimes pointing out Belle waifish appearance.

The only salvation from putting up with Milah came with the outlandish tips.

Milah would always give her tips ranging from $50 to $200, at one point Belle wanted to refuse in switching shifts with Ruby, but she scolded her for even considering refusing the money. What Belle failed to tell Ruby however, had been the days in which she would receive the larger tips; Milah would brush off a bruise causing Belle to take notice the older woman was making it perfectly clear she was letting the server know.

The bruises were different as the first one was on her neck giving the pattern impression someone had chocked the wealthy woman then others would follow with finger shaped indentures on her left forearm. She tried her best not to stare but she couldn’t help but wonder as she noticed the baby bump growing larger with each passing week. One day, Milah arrived again to the restaurant this time wearing dark sunglasses. A normal fashion statement but with the cold weather, the patio was closed off causing the patrons to eat indoors allowing Milah to comply and taking off her glasses revealing to Belle a large black and purple bruise on her right eye causing difficulty in keeping it open. There was some effort to conceal it but the foundation could only cover so much were it gave the injury more apparent.

“Is everything going well ma’am?” Belle knew she was stepping beyond her boundaries but it still bothered her seeing someone could be hurt and nothing was being done about it.

“You are so sweet to ask, promise me something little one, never get married. One day you think Prince Charming is the world, followed by a comment here and reaction there.” Belle took a step back watching Milah beginning to tear up, “It’s not always bad, Seaumas usually says ‘sorry’ and gives the most expensive gift he can get as a way of making it up”. While Milah smiled as though she was thinking of a fond memory, she tucked her hair in the back of her ear showing Belle an elaborate diamond earring. Belle felt both disgusted and sympathetic to this poor woman’s suffering, she knew these stories existed but never thought they occurred to people whose shoes would cost more than her week’s wages.

“Have you ever tried to leave him or tell someone about this?”

“I can’t because Prince Charming is an upstanding member of the community. He’s a powerful lawyer were even the cops refuse to believe this man can be a monster” The information continued to plague Belle after she left Milah to serve the other customers.

Belle wanted to go and help this woman in some way but what was there for her to do? She began suspecting or more likely hoping that Milah might already be planning on leaving her husband as pregnancy looked too larger for someone who was only five months. As she went to retrieve the bill for Milah, Belle decided as a way to express her gratitude getting one of the cards she got from a sexual harassment seminar she and Ariel had gone to the other night.

“Thank you very much for you service ma’am, hope to see you again and enjoy the rest of your day” Belle gave Milah the card were to her surprise the woman had not flung it to her face but instead gave her a $500 tip. After the tables were cleared, Belle decided to give the $500 to Ruby who pointing out once again her friend was foolish but happily receiving the cash.

After that encounter, Milah never arrived back to the restaurant causing Belle to assume everything was fine even though she did admit to herself, she missed the tips. Life went back to normal for Belle as she went to class, work, and home and studied followed by an occasional dip in the campus pool even with Ruby finally moving back leaving the apartment needing its much missed to chaotic normalcy. There were times were Belle and Ruby felt they were being watch when coming home from Granny’s. To put Granny’s mind at ease, David sometimes volunteered whenever he was off-duty to escort the girls’ home even spending another half an hour checking out the neighborhood making sure everything was fine.

Midterms arrived and left with Belle deciding to stay home after suffering a week of sleep deprivation as Ariel and Ruby went out to celebrate. The lack of sleep, survival on coffee and strain of her eyes due to late night reading finally took a toll on her as she began resting her eyes followed by landing her face on her books and sleeping between its pages.

All of a sudden a loud buzzing noise violently woke Belle up, flinching so hard she nearly fell off her chair thinking she was late for class.

By the time Belle processed everything, the buzzing continued two more times before it stopped. She thought one of the girls might have forgotten her key again which is understandable but not at 2 in the morning. Nevertheless, Belle hurried to the door until she heard a faint sound of footsteps walking away followed by silence. Getting her keys and can of mace, Belle walked out of the apartment door seeing no one at first until she looked down confused at the bundle standing on her doorstep. A store bought white basket surrounded by blankets muffling the sounds that appeared to be crying. She quickly unwrapping the blanket, shocked at her discovery.

A tiny infant who appeared to be newborn wrapped up revealing to be dressed in a white onesie with a blue balloon embroidered in the chest. His head and tiny red hands were freezing.

Terrified, Belle picked the baby up whose cries increased luckily not waking up the rest of the floor. ““Shhh, don’t cry sweetie. It’s okay, everything will be fine” _I hope_.

She began humming “Hush, Little Baby” soothing him after mama promises for a billy goat. Cuddling the infant close to her, Belle picked up the basket closing the door finding under the blankets contained an envelope addressed to her containing a letter, a business card and a birth certificate.

**_To Miss French,_ **

**_Promise me you will do everything possible for my husband to never find the child, after all the scars and bruises I could never let the same fate be repeated. You will find a birth certificate giving you all the information you need and a card for the law firm Mills, Green &Hearts, ask for Regina Mills, she will find a way to help you. As for the child, you can tell whatever you want about me but it would better to say I never existed. _ **

**_Good luck_ **

**_Milah_ **

Belle teared up reading this letter after a fourth time. She curled her body into the couch holding the baby close to her, immediately regretting not listening to her better judgment despite Milah’s constant warnings to not report this to the authorities. At the same time, she became infuriated at the realization from seeing the birth certificate this this child was not even a day old and already lost his mother. She was not only furious at the father hoping he met an early grave but at Milah for her irresponsible acts. How did this woman not know something so basic as to bundle up a child? Then it began to dawn all the little things she remembered regarding Milah’s eccentricities; the incident over the alcohol and hiding the pregnancy. Belle assumed Milah might have been four or five months which now revealed the timing was in fact eight. What if the ice tea wasn’t the first incident and there might be other serious faults in the child?

Belle checked her watch realizing it was late but went to get her keys and coat as she took the boy out of the apartment where they started to get into her car only remembering she did not possess a car seat. 

Luckily, Ariel and Ruby headed back into the apartment as they bumped into one another on the corridor. 

“Belle, what are you doing it’s late. Whose baby is this?” each responded noticing the baby in their roommate’s arms looking confused as they began sobering up. 

“It’s a rather long story, I need to make sure he’s okay over the next few days and take him to the hospital in the morning.” Ruby took a glance at the baby and began to hold him with Ariel still looking at Belle with a motherly scorn causing the young girl to lower her head. Ruby went to the cupboard to pick up the coffee grounds and began boiling milk into the sauce pan.

“Alright fine, just give us a bit to sober up. I don’t think it’s a good idea for Ruby and I to be sleeping every five seconds.” Belle thought that was fair enough handing Ariel with the infant as she gathered the cups for the girls. “What’s his name?” Ariel asked.

Belle now froze at the fact when she read the birth certificate, there was no name only “Baby Boy” leaving to her frustrations over this whole situation. She spotted her book on plants in the coffee table in which the bookmarked turned to the bailey leaves giving her an idea on what to name this unusual child.

“Bailey…” declaring it with speed where Ariel simply nodded.

Ariel wanted nothing more than coffee in her system perhaps a sleeping pill as her patience was getting tested but between making sure Ruby didn’t leave the bar with some creepy and finding a baby in her apartment, she just cut her losses and accepted the matter and joined her other roommate as Belle began to place a makeshift bed for Bailey in her room.

“So what did you think, Bailey or Bae for short?” the baby started squirming leading his hand to touch Belle’s index finger soothing hers. She held the baby close to her until he fell asleep until the room stayed silent with the sounds of Bailey’s breathing, feeling tired she scrunched by to the bed seeing the child completely for the first time full of love and admiration.

“Sleep well my little prince.” She kissed the boy goodnight promising to never leave him.


	2. Not So Easy

Throughout the night, the girls took turns switching every three hours watching over Bailey, at first he was a little angel quiet in Belle’s bed leaving her with the ability to relax for a bit as Ruby and Ariel began passing out. All of a sudden, the girls woke to an intense wailing finding themselves frantically trying to figure out what he needed while Belle soothed him and Ruby trying to make him laugh using contorted faces until Ariel had enough and went over the biscotti jar in the kitchen, taking out some emergency money stating she would be back soon as she grabbed her keys. Half an hour later, she arrive carrying two paper bags of groceries containing nearly every emergency baby item from the all night convenience stores; the list of items included a week supply of diapers, baby formula, bottles, pacifiers and several bibs. As Ariel got the formula ready, she instructed Ruby and Belle on keeping the formula at the right temperature and how to properly hold the child when feeding, they were surprised to see Bailey calmer as he drank from his bottle giving the girls a bit of peace.

“How do you know so much about babies” asked Belle amazed at how Ariel’s demeanour regarding smoothing the baby as though it was second nature.

Ariel smiled looking down at her friends, “I’ve got three nieces and two nephews from my four older sisters. Due to having a large family, Daddy thought it would have been better for the younger girls to learn how to take care of children. Boys are a little difficult at times because they make a fuss, but after settling down a routine, they become easier to maintain.” She handed Bailey to Belle trying to remember Ariel’s instructions, “If you need any help in caring for Bailey, you’ve got a semi-professional baby expert and I’m sure Mary Margaret would be thrilled in practicing on caring for a real baby before Emma arrives.” Each of the girls laughed at the image of Mary Margaret using dolls to change diapers while nervous over the crying buttons being accidently activated.

The remainder of the night continued with each of the girls taking turns until they all managed to pass out in various spots around the living room until the alarm clock rang a few hours later with daylight seeping through the curtains, each of the girls to remember they needed to go to the hospital. They headed into Ruby’s black Volkswagen mainly used for emergencies as their neighbourhood provided what they needed within walking distance. Ruby drove with Belle sitting on the backseat next to Ariel who held on the car-handle out of habit rather a fear of Ruby’s driving.

The tension now had decreased with Ruby took a deep breath finally asking what had been in her mind over the past several hours, “Spill, whose baby is he?”

“Do you remember that woman I was telling you guys about with the big tips?” Belle can see Ruby’s face from the rear-view mirror she remembered as the subject itself had annoyed her. “I can’t understand it myself, but she tells me this story about her husband being this horrible monster, hitting her while she was pregnant. I guess I felt bad for her, I meant who wouldn’t then drops her son on the stoop last night with several letters explaining that I needed to keep him.”

Ruby stops the car parking it to the side turning around to Belle, “Hang on, the woman tells you she’s being abused by her husband and drops her baby off to some random stranger in the middle of the night?” she pointed out. “It is a little strange; I mean there are safe haven laws for that sort of thing.”

Ariel could see Belle flinching as though she were being scolded while Ruby looked more exhausted than angry. “I don’t know, I think its best we make sure Bailey is okay and then we can figure out where to go from here.”

Nodding her head giving Belle a large grin, Ruby drove towards another turn heading into the parking garage. They walked into the clinic section at the paediatric wing requesting for an available appointment. Since Ruby was the only one of the trio who had insurance through this hospital, they used her membership to pay for an appointment leaving Belle nervous about the paperwork she was given as there was nothing she could fill in correctly without causing a risk to the child. A few minutes later, a nurse arrived calling for Bailey leaving Belle and Ruby to go as Ariel stayed in the waiting room reading a magazine.

The nurse showed the girls into Dr. Whale’s office leaving them roaming around for a few minutes until a handsome, young physician with blonde hair walked into the office smiling when he saw Ruby.

“Miss Lucas, good to see you again.” He took Ruby’s hand kissing it leaving Belle blushing at the sight of a flushed Ruby. “How has your grandmother been?” Ruby looked back at a confused Belle then at the doctor unable to respond. “You don’t remember me, do you? I kept you company while you were waiting to hear news about your grandmother.” Immediately the memory came back to Ruby as she shook the doctor’s hand. They exchanged a few pleasantries when Belle began clearing her throat letting Ruby and Whale know they weren’t alone. “My apologies, I’m Dr. Whale. I can assume you are Bailey’s mother?”

“Yes, I’m Belle a pleasure Dr. Whale and this Bailey.” the doctor who playfully shook the sleeping infant’s hand joking about the strength of his grip. Whale took the baby away from Belle placing the infant into a crib calling a nearby nurse to help him with the chat. The nurse walked in introducing herself as Astrid addressing instantly noticing the young mother looked nervous and somewhat tired from the way she failed to immediately react when getting down from the chair nearly stumbling had Ruby not caught her on time.

“Sorry, it’s been having a rough week.” Belle’s nerves were starting to get to her as she began to look around the room twitching her arms around hoping no one would have noticed. To her dismay, the nurse noticed but gave her a smile as Belle turned to Ruby annoyed at seeing her friend rather flirting with the doctor rather than backing her up, it turned out she wasn’t alone either.

“Now what seems to be the trouble today?” asked Whale looking at the state of the infant’s hearing.

Her nerves arrived once again, “I just wanted for him to get his check up as I was told it was standard procedure a few days after birth.”

Both the nurse and doctor looked at Belle once again. “You haven’t seen anyone yet? What hospital did you go to?” demanded Whale causing Belle and Ruby to panic.

“I’ve gave birth to him at home, but I read up on the subject of pre-natal care as well as how to prepare raising an infant during the first six months. Not the wisest decision, but I wanted to do everything possible to make sure everything was okay.” Belle started to cry as Ruby began shedding some tears in hearing how convincing her friend appears as she lowered her head down in shame during the story. It appeared even Whale soften up as he took Bailey to get blood work and head measurements checked at the same time asking Belle whether she was using the formula, and doing a physical examination at the same time Astrid began filling out the paperwork for the birth certificate.

Whale came back a few minutes later with the baby in tow. “It appears everything is fine for the little guy, although his skin is a little dry because of the current weather. I’m going to prescribe some lotion which I recommend you put on him at least twice a day.” The doctor then began writing a list of initials with certain times posted up for Belle that would have allowed her to be reminded when to feed and change Bailey. “In the meantime, come back next month for a follow up. Although I suggest the next time, call or come here rather than get medical help through a book; while those guides are helpful, they tend to be subjective at best. We will see you soon.”

Dr. Whale and Astrid waved goodbye to Bailey as Belle thanked them, she felt a sigh of relief over one hurdle where she hardly cared they stayed in the waiting room a little bit longer because Whale asked Ruby out on a date even if it did provide some eye rolling towards those in view. As Belle, Bailey and Ruby left the waiting room; Ruby got a text message from Ariel saying she would be in the parking lot. The girls got the medication heading back to the parking lot finding Ariel talking to Mary Margaret who carried with her a large white teddy bear and balloons saying “Congratulations” and “It’s a Boy”.

“About time you guys got out.” Yelled Ariel taking the baby away from Belle, “It felt an eternity”

“That was Ruby’s fault, as she was getting a date from this” stated Belle.

Mary Margaret laughed while Ruby looked annoyed, “Well excuse me Miss ‘I can get away with anything because I have the face of a china doll’ you’re lucky my cleavage kept the doctor distracted because I’m sure that nurse was almost going to ask you more personal questions.”

As Ruby and Belle began arguing, Mary Margaret got between the girls desisting as they watched their friend humming to the baby with a natural ease. “I’m sorry you know how I am around children, even David thinks I overreact too much around them.” Mary Margaret gave a look to Ruby as she made clear she needed head back to start her shift. She took her Volkswagen with her leaving the girls at the mercy of Mary Margaret and her silver minivan.

“I brought an extra diaper bag as well as a shoulder strap we might need to adjust it for you though. So from what Ariel said, Bailey only had one jumpsuit and a few diapers with him?” said Mary Margaret looking down at the baby making sure his blanket was warm enough, not able to fathom the idea of anyone abandoning a child in the middle of the night to complete strangers.

“Right but I am not sure how long he was in the cold for. Luckily the doctor said there was a little dry skin; remind me later to talk to David about finding the mother.” Stated Belle as she was starting to relax knowing the rest of the day would become shopping out all the baby items in any store Mary Margaret would recommend.

8888888

The next two weeks became a nightmare for Belle as the demands of Bae were driving her out of her mind. Despite Ariel’s willingness to help out, Belle thought it was better to learn for herself by checking out nearly every book regarding first time motherhood or the first year of infants from the library. The books provided Belle with all the information about differences between changing a diaper on the genders, the correct amount of measurement of formula during the feedings even theories about what type of noise a baby would find soothing during its sleeping periods. This became necessary when Ariel went home to Boston for the week due to a family emergency and Ruby’s work schedule changed altered.

For the first three days, Belle researched while trying to juggle taking care of Bailey, working and school. To the rest of the world it appeared everything was normal, but the multitasking took its toll on Belle where she slept a total of 12 hours during the first week. To make matters more difficult, Bae’s crying became more frequent leading Belle to be at arm’s length to the infant where on three separate occasions he was served cold formula for fear she would have accidentally set the apartment on fire due to a micro nap.

Even when Bailey finally went to sleep, staying awake became a top priority as the few hours would give her time to catch up on homework, but the strain of staying awake was beginning to become a both a mental and physical strain on her where Belle was found by Ruby passed out in the floor of the living room only to be awoken the next morning in her bed finding Mary Margaret sitting beside her knitting a pink baby sock.

“Mary, what are you doing here? Damn it, where is Bae, I have to change him!” Belle quickly jumped out of her bed as Mary Margaret gently put her down hugging her.

“Relax; David and Ruby are taking care of him. Ruby found you last night and called us all. We spent the entire night and most of the day making sure the apartment was tidied up and the supplies were well-stocked.” David showed up a few minutes later carrying a tray of scrambled eggs with toast and Vegemite along with two cups of tea insisting everything must be empty.

As Belle began to be nursed back to health, Mary Margaret and Ruby began cooking meals while Ariel took charge of Bailey at the same time, Mary Margaret began to design the nursery.  This occurred with Belle’s bed towards the opposite of the crib facing a window view followed by a pattern of toys and furniture placed around with wind chimes hanging over the crib and wallpaper decorated with the safari animals. Hearing about Belle’s sickness, Granny offered to watch him during her shifts with older woman spoiling the boy on one hand at the same time ordering Ruby and Belle to pick up the pace.

For school, Belle took him to her classes either he would normally be sleeping or lightly cough to indicate whenever he needed something. However, on her World Literature course one Thursday afternoon, Bailey woke demanding to be fed taking everyone by surprise as Belle pointed out in the beginning Bailey was fussy but mostly quiet. It took her a good twenty minutes to calm him down leaving Belle no choice but to leave class early before one of the students suggested she could use the campus day-care service.

The next evening, Belle received an email by her World Literature Professor stating he wanted to speak to her as soon as she was available. Having a suspicion about what it entailed, Belle took a deep breathe slowly walking to the English Department finding Professor Booth’s door opened and with not a line of students in sight. She took a minute to compose herself, knocking on the door finding her professor on his chair reading _Paradise Lost_. “Professor Booth, its Belle French you wanted to see me?” he waved for her to come in offering her another chair making sure she comfortable as he went over his desk  looking for the manila folder he swore was in his sight only a minute earlier.

He muttered a relief finding the file on the cabinet behind her; “Ah yes Miss French, thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I trust you have no other classes at this time?” She nodded still confused. “Good, normally it is none of my business as to the personal lives of my students, but when it does disrupt my lectures, I do take an offense.”

Confusion turned to shock, “I don’t understand, I do my work and participate in the lectures.”

He handed her the manila folder showing a list of notes and complaints from different professors as well as her current progress in all of her classes. While her student page showed the current progress of her classes, she knew not all of her professors used the online program frightening her even further as she saw the notes and grades in two of her classes for the first time since her midterm.

“Miss French, I am going to be frank, but your child has been proven to be a distraction in my class and from what I have gathered by your other professors, this has been an ongoing process. When you arrive for classes; you seem to be exhausted, unconcerned, plus you missed several progression appointments. Your recent essay exam was so mediocre; I was too embarrassed to even grade it. I can understand having a child would be difficult at your age but you need to balance your time or take a semester off if it has been overwhelming.” 

“It’s not so stressful but I haven’t had the time to get a proper sitter.” Nothing Belle could say could try to justify her actions at this point and she was feeling smaller by the second.

 Seeing her eyes becoming red, Professor Booth gave Belle a bottle of water and some tissues. “Miss French, you seem like an intelligent young woman; I really don’t want to fail you. I am pretty sure no one else wants to fail you so I have a proposition. Your other three professors are willing to give you a second chance with some make up assignments. For my class however, I will give you two options: redo the previous assignment and turn it into the dropbox by Sunday or drop the class with a W. Will give you until midnight Sunday for either response?” Booth took out a packet of tissues placing it to her as she put them on the pouch of her bag.

Belle quickly realized she had four days to get her schoolwork in order.  She thanked her professor, handing over the folder containing her ungraded essay detailing several criticisms. Professor Booth had not been lying as the paper itself was so embarrassing to read even Belle had trouble skimming towards the end. She couldn’t have a chance to finish reading as Bailey began to start crying until they made it back to the apartment.

Her mood softened finding David, Ariel, Ruby and Margaret in the dining table playing _Clue_ with several assortments of snacks surrounding them. “Oh good you’re finally home, we need a fifth player.” stated Mary Margaret all puzzled as Belle silently heading into her room throwing her stuff in the floor placing Bailey into his crib. She jumped into the bed sobbing without hesitation hiccupping in her attempts to stay silent.

Sometime later, Belle felt a weight on her slowly turned to the side to find her lights on with Mary Margaret embracing her along with Ruby and Ariel on the bed with David sitting on the desk.

“I’m such a failure!!! Ariel and Ruby are going to kick me out, everything is too much and Bailey won’t stop crying.” Belle’s sobbing turned into hiccups with David bringing her a glass of water.

Ruby and Ariel began to embrace her as well with Ariel embracing her so tightly, “Belle we aren’t going to kick you. Granted I am a little annoyed you haven’t been listening to us when I told you we all are happy to chip in”

“We are a bit concerned for you though. You’ve been overworking and it’s been difficult seeing you like this when we had hoped you could take a break for once.” Proclaimed Ruby

“I didn’t want to give the impression I was taking advantage.” Not a second later, everyone began to quietly snicker.

“Belle we are family, you aren’t taking advantage of us.” asserted Mary Margaret, “We love you and Bailey so feel free to ask for help anytime.” Each of the girls and David all took turns hugging Belle bringing her back into the living room with Mary Margaret handing Belle a plate of pasta demanding she finished everything on the plate and her job was to make sure no one would start cheat when they began a new round.

“Oh Belle before I forget, I did some research regarding the letter and Milah Gold” stated David grabbing Belle’s attention. “This woman has been nearly difficult in searching until I looked under her maiden name of Cassidy. It appears she bought a one-way ticket to London has been residing in some apartment at Knightsbridge for the past two weeks.

“So there is a good chance she isn’t coming back.” Belle would have been happy to hear this news, but it left her more concerned than overjoyed.

“I am afraid so but we could always try her husband. Although everyone in the squad kept saying Mr. Gold is a real shark when it comes to attorneys where he would find some obscure, outdated ruling in order to make his case.” Belle pushed the file away back to David trying not to look at it wanting to forget the last few seconds.

“Promise me we won’t contact the husband at all. Do I think she was irresponsible regarding what happened to Bae the night I found him on the stoop? Yes but if she went to all of this trouble with the reputation this man has then perhaps it would be easier to continue respecting her wishes.” Everyone complied to that demand although they were all looking at one another trying to figure out an easier solution.

“Can I make a suggestion?” volunteered Ariel “If you still have that card that Milah gave you regarding the lawyer, I bet we can find a way for you to legally adopt the little tyke.”

Everyone began thinking praising this as an excellent idea as Belle tried to process it “Not a bad idea, if it gets rid of any hassles then why not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Belle has a consultation with Regina


	3. A Fresh Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long; currently moving, my cat got sick and getting ready for classes this week so my life is a bit hectic right now. I will still be updating frequently so not to worry :)

The law firm of Mills, Greene &Hart gave an air of both elegance and professionalism.

The lobby contained an obscene amount of security, leading Belle not only to hand over her cell phone and license before signing in but to her annoyance go through a metal detector. She felt better seeing the guard had sympathize with her as he took Bailey while she given the clearance to head towards the elevator leading to the top floor in the downtown Manhattan building. She found the receptionist, a blonde woman in a designer suit typing up on her computer giving Belle a condescending look when she headed into the reception area.

“Do you have an appointment, Miss?” she stated in a low Brooklyn accent staring at the stroller.

A nervous Belle hands the over the business card with Milah’s now disconnected number towards the receptionist looking bored at her. “No I don’t, I am trying to find a Regina Mills. I was referred to her by Milah Gold.”

Unconcerned, the receptionist begins typing up her notes asking for Belle’s name and the reason for her visit followed by picking up the intercom phone. “Ms. Mills, there is a Ms. Belle French here told she was referred to you by a client…yes ma’am I understand, but the girl insists on speaking to you.” Belle internally scoffed taking quick glances at the clock. “Please take a seat, Ms. Mills will see you shortly.”

Belle complied placing the stroller on neutral. She glanced around the room finding it to be more of a hotel lobby than an office; lilies displayed on elaborately decorated vases, in the back of the room lay a beautiful fountain holding a large heart torn in the middle where on the centrepiece, water began to seep out.

“The fountain was my mother’s idea; it does give the room a bit of flair. Don’t you think?” Belle turned to see another woman dressed in a dark grey pantsuit and violet blouse tossing her short hair to the side to reveal a charming smile behind her blood red lipstick.

“Yes it does.” Belle quickly mentioned attempting not to stutter.

“I’m Regina Mills; you are my next appointment I presume?” she asked shaking Belle’s hand.

“Uh-yes, sorry about that, you see I got this letter—“

“Miss French, its better if we talk in my office, sometimes walls can hear.” Raising her eyebrow, Belle got the message following Regina into her office hearing her request for a tea set to be prepared. While the lobby and reception area were welcoming, Regina’s office became another story. The office had been decorated in black and white prints scattering the furniture with a chrome finish. In the middle of the room, lay an apple orchard containing fresh red apples ready to be picked.

Belle took a seat on the chair across from Regina who looked presented great power as she lounged in her large throne towering over the petite blonde. As she began checking on Bailey who was still asleep, Regina poured the tea handing it to a cup leaving the lawyer collecting her notes.

“So Ms. French, my secretary says you were referred to me by Milah Gold. I am curious as to how you know her, I mean no offense but you don’t strike me as someone who would associates with Milah.”

She took a deep breath, “I work as a waitress at a restaurant in the Village called _Granny’s_. Milah use to frequent there until about maybe two months ago, then last month she left me this letter saying I need to speak to you since it contains…” she turned towards the stroller then back at Regina, “well I think you need to read it.”

Regina took the letter and reading it, keeping her expression leaving Belle to look around in room to calm her nerves. “Ms. I’m not following this very well, it would be best if you start over from the beginning.”

Belle complied explaining what had occurred with Milah and the night Bailey arrived including notes from Whale along with the birth certificate. She noticed Regina nodding her head in several instances always writing done as much as Belle had been telling her to the point where Regina had stopped her a few times in order to repeat a few points. After Belle finished explaining, Regina placed her pen on the table then looked at her with the wide grin taking another sip of her tea. 

“A very interesting story Ms. French, a thought just crossed my mind which might work out in your favour but I would like to get a better assessment of you so I am correct in my judgment.” Before Regina could begin, Bailey began crying where the lawyer directed Belle to a bathroom across from the office where she headed off to sooth the screaming infant. She returned a few minutes later apologizing to Regina as she placed the child back onto the stroller.

“Ms. French I need you to be honest with me, how much do you love this child?”

Belle was taken aback by this question immediately answering it. “I love him as though _I_ have spent the nine months waiting for him to arrive. Bailey is my son; I have fed him, clothed him, changed his diapers, bathe him and spent nights making sure he is sleeping soundly even though I haven’t slept well in over a month.”

Regina placed her cup back gathering a folder. “I see, so far there can be a strong case on kidnapping….”

Belle got up from the desk, furiously pounding her fists onto. “Kidnapping?!?! No, No, No, I didn’t kidnap anyone. I woke up in the middle of the night with a baby being left on my doorstep like some overnight package I ordered from Amazon.”

“As I said, Ms. French, you can admit to kidnapping when his father finds out because he will since secrets such as these won’t stay secret for long an legally he has a claim to him and he won’t believe this fantastic story of yours.

“I didn’t kidnap him.” An idea came to her head, “how about I contact the father and solve this whole matter.”

“Why are you here Miss French?” heading closer Belle, Regina then noticed she was not the naive little girl she thought. _The Bookworm has teeth._

_Calm down Belle, everything is going to be okay….you just need to not lose your temper again and hope the bitch of a lawyer won’t try to eat you alive…._

“I wanted to adopt him; I was told by Milah in that letter I gave you that you would be able to help me. Now are you going to help me or not?” raising her eyebrow back at Regina giving her a smirk.

Regina then gave Belle another smirk, “As it happens, I can. I do have some contact with several agencies and they sponsor you, consider this a pro bono case if we get the paperwork ready and sent toit judge let’s say by 5:00 tonight?”

Belle agreed taking nearly an hour to fill out the paperwork. Each form consisted of Belle’s living situation, personal details, blood work and ability to provide all of which Regina either explained carefully or would help her stretch the questions.

Although it did leave Belle to wonder about the future, how could she provide for Bailey? She may need to take a semester off and get longer hours at Granny’s just to buy essentials but her scholarship only extended to being a full-time student and risking her visa. At the same time, Belle did not feel comfortable with Bailey going into the foster system. Staying with her, Bailey would have a home and a supportive family structure whether it would be in New York of if Belle was forced to move back to Melbourne. The pros and cons of the situation continued to weigh in on Belle until she realized that she was down to the last form which required both hers and Regina’s signature.

“Wait, before I sign this, I need to know for certain if Bailey is going to be safe in my care. All of this is legal right?”

“Miss French, I will personally make sure you and Bailey are never going to worry about any difficulties in a court of law. As soon as you fill this last form, my secretary will rapidly send this to Judge Spencer’s office who takes every circumstance into consideration. The both of you have nothing to fear.”

 “Yes ma’am” without hesitation, Belle signed the last form along with Regina. She gave Belle a caring smile followed by handing her a box of tissues as Belle nearly began to start crying. “So what happens now?”

“As I said I will be sending these to Judge Spencer’s office and you would probably be visited by social services within the month and there is a three month period were you will get the notice. I don’t normally say these things prematurely but consider the adoption as good as legal.”

 Belle began to feel giddy at the possibility of being his official mother. “Thank you, but I still don’t understand as to why you are so accepting of this? Wouldn’t it be your job to decide what is best for the child? I am not exactly in the best financial position to take care of him.”

Regina then gathered a photo from her desk handing it to Belle containing a little boy who looked similar to Regina wearing a yellow and white soccer jersey “That’s Henry; he’s five years old now and obsessed with comic books and thinking everyone around him is a fairy-tale character. He was not even a week old when my husband had passed away. I spent the next three years trying to support myself through law school with different jobs while making sure Henry was always well provided for. I can see you truly care for the infant where sometimes a little bit of help is needed in order for those to be given their best chance.”

Belle was speechless hearing Regina’s story as she gathered a new respect for her; she shook the lawyer’s hand thanking her for all the help. She and Bailey left the building humming random tunes thrilled to have finished earlier than expected. The moment of peace became interrupted as Belle nearly slipped onto some ice where to her luck caught before she and the stroller fell.

“Are you alright dearie?” said her rescuer in an accent Belle placed from Scotland but she was not the best person when it came to regional dialects. She stood up seeing him to be older, well-dressed, sporting a cane with nice long hair that surprisingly worked well with the suit reminding her of a nobleman from a Victorian novel. Getting a better look at him, Belle began to ponder what kind of conditioner he used.

“Yes I think so, thank you sir.” Without thinking Belle immediately curtsied leaving the gentleman to smile back at her as she started to feel awkward over the incident. “Sometimes I forget the streets are not exactly easy to walk on.”

“I’m sure you will be careful next time. May I call a cab for you?”

“Oh no that isn’t necessary the walk isn’t far….”

“I insist, you also have another person to think about”

She thought what he meant for a second when he pointed back to the stroller that it caused Belle to mentally hit herself. “Yes sorry, having a blonde moment, although I’m not really a blonde and will probably get rid of this do once my roots start to grow out and I’m probably talking too much again….” She now wished she had fallen to die from the embarrassment. “Okay sure, would like to get home before Bailey wakes up, thank you very much.” She nervously chuckled seeing the man looked bored by her comments.

“My pleasure” the gentleman hailed a cab which arrived in quick speed. He gave the cab driver $500 to drive Belle wherever she needed to go which caused her to smile as she got the stroller turned into a car seat followed by giving the addressed to the apartment.

“Thanks again” she waved back to the gentleman as the cab drove off leaving Belle back in her peace of mind. She already realized there was a lot she needed to tell everyone and many preparations to get ready for as the judge’s notice would not arrive until a week but at this point Belle just wanted to let the world go by her.

88888

Gold could not wait a moment longer, he barged into Regina’s office before her secretary had a chance to stop him or warn her boss opening the door with such force that Regina accidently caused her heels to nearly fall out.

“Hello Seumas, this is a pleasant surprise.” Smiling back at him knowing he would not be easily charmed by her.

“What the hell is this?” he threw a large manila folder leading some of the papers to scatter throughout the desk. Regina knew the contents of the forms but she took pleasure seeing her former mentor become agitated.

“Why Seumas, surely you would know what a settlement account looks like? I doubt criminal law would have caused you to forget so easily simple contract disputes.” Regina’s feign innocence were always something Gold use to laugh at seeing how she would easily use it to get her way, but now he wanted nothing better than to wipe that smirk off her face.

“The judge found no claims in Milah’s allegations of abuse therefore she is not entitled to anything, meaning this subpoena is just as invalid as any defence you decided to cook up. Give it up Regina; I won the case because you let your obsession to win blind you from thinking rationally.”

She handed the forms back to him not caring if they were disorganized. “Oh please Seumas, you only won because you had that sleazy PI of yours go too far in gather evidence. Milah did make a fool out of you but she did deserve some compensation after putting up with you for a decade.”

He desperately wanted throw his cane onto the glass, but that would have given Regina a cause validate the subpoena and give an extension to his therapy sessions. “You know I can show this to any judge in all the five boroughs and it will be thrown out.”

“Fine,” she said gritting through her teeth, “but I do have another proposition and this one can make all our lives easier. I want you to give Milah a check for half a million dollars a year for the next decade.”

Now Gold began to look insulted “You must be joking…”

“Come on, we both know you can afford it. You said so yourself, Milah deserved nothing and this amount will make a dent on her monthly shoe expenses and she won’t be able to complain as you are being generous after she spent months trying to drag your name down the mud. Just take the offer, or I will keep sending you summons until Henry is in college.”

“Fine, send me the invoice and expect a check from my bank within the next two days.” Throwing out the papers onto the trash, Gold couldn’t bear to look at Regina another instance as she her smirk turned into a grin.

“You know, Milah confided a lot to me during the proceedings. She said the only good thing to have come out of the marriage was that she never had your child. “I couldn’t help but think that was an odd statement to say since children would have given Milah a strong case in getting your money.”

That comment stopped Gold on his tracks as he headed to the door. Seeing Milah in that courtroom during the last months of the proceedings, mocking him with Jones’ child left him wanting to vomit whenever he was alone. Had it been a year earlier, Gold would have been thrilled to hear of Milah’s pregnancy even trying to working something out with her for the sake of the child but occasionally glancing at his ex-wife caressing the small bump left him wondering all that could have been. When he first saw her with the bump, he knew the child was not his because the last time they were together had been nearly two months before she dated Jones, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the infant knowing the future it would being raised by Milah. Looking back at it, Gold was glad Milah was now aboard never to be near him again “She knew I would have fought through hell and back to get custody where she would still be placed in the same position as now but without the half a million blackmail as no one would truly believe she was a good mother. If that is all….: He needed to leave quickly before Regina placed him in another situation that would leave him emotionally exhausted.

“Right….well I will be expecting the notice. Have a good day Seumas and please get some sleep. I know you don’t believe me, but I do worry about you sometimes.” Gold left slamming the door not wanting to think any more about the unpleasantness the past year have brought regarding his accident and now divorce. He looked into his watch seeing as he still had some time to head back to the firm before his next client, he notice the park was close by where an extra detour would not have hurt his timing.

Regina looked on her window finding Mr. Gold heading towards the opposite direction from his firm. From her view, he looked defeated even frail where she felt disgusted in losing to him but quickly brushed it off laughing at the ironies of life. Even though Regina considered herself a champion for female clients, she was not an idiot to believe every sob story her clients told her. All that mattered to her was whether the jury and judges would believe them and let the opposing team know she cannot be underestimated. When Milah told Regina about her pregnancy, Regina had assumed Milah was going to abort it until she told her that baby was her insurance policy in ridding of Gold.

An unnecessary DNA test according to Milah along with a doctor’s confirmation showed Milah was expected her husband’s child where she discussed with Regina her plans to accused Gold of domestic abuse then place him in a corner where he would be forced to give into her demands along with child support. Regina approved of the defence as Gold was known among the New York society for having a volatile temper, plus it also meant a career boost for her in taking down one of the cities’ most powerful attorneys. Taking Milah’s word, she even suggested her client display several injuries and witnesses in order to make the case stronger where she was surprised to find out Jones had some use other than being occasional eye candy. Another suggestion became to even shave off the pregnancy by at least a month with heavier clothing in order to being the process of Gold becoming agitated where the DNA test will lead him to pay whatever sum that was requested. The case was perfect and would been the most scandalous event of the year if it weren’t for Gold’s underhanded tactics by hiring the obnoxiously charming PI Robin Locksley to give out all the evidence of not only Milah’s affair but also of her supposed injuries, whereabouts and hospital records. Regina could not have understand why Miah was so stupid, perhaps it had been an ego or believing she could get away with it but the case instantly went into Gold’s favour and Regina was proven to be incompetent. At the end, Regina pleaded with Milah to present the pregnancy to the judge allowing her to receive a sum but Milah became more obsessed in hurting her ex as she confided in the lawyer about her husband’s desire to be a father along with details that made Regina immediately regretted taking on this woman as a client as Gold helped her out after she lost Daniel much to the dismay of her mother.

In divorcing Gold before the child was born, no one could prove he is the father unless a paternity test was done but Gold was so sure Jones was the father that he would never conducted it. Regina had been waiting for nearly a month to hear from Belle the minute Milah suggested the naïve server would be of some use.  The girl seemed fairly normal based on her background check, she has never been discipline; lying to Belle made little sense to Regina as she constantly reminded Milah there was no guarantee Gold would not have found out and still take custody. Whatever she told that girl might have worked as Regina remembered the look on Belle’s face at the mention of the baby being returned to his father might have caused the girl to take next flight back to Australia.

Regina looked at the forms making sure it was all in correct order. It appeared Belle read them carefully taking to look and gave information she was sure was close to the truth where the judge could consider her to a fit parent. The story Belle told her had sounded as though it was something Milah would which left Regina even more disgusted thinking the child would have died from exposure. She placed them all into the manila folders calling her secretary to send the forms along with a letter to Judge Spencer explaining the situation and reminding him that he had owe Regina a favour in the past.

She then called the clerk’s office to cease any forms directing to Mr. Gold and requested the invoice sent to his office with the demanded amount.

_That baby is better off with the blonde chit than his bastard father and cunt of a mother. Although it is hilarious to think about how Gold unknowingly paying child support…._

**888888**

Overtime the household went back to maintaining a routine where it became easier for Belle to ask Ruby and Ariel for help whenever she in classes or work. Within two weeks after visiting Regina, the social worker who Regina suggested inspecting the apartment as the nursery had now been ready to use with the newest addition became a box of stuff animals placed close to the door. Other than stating the apartment was a little cluttered for several items, the social worker had been impressed the state of the apartment and of Belle’s behaviour sending Regina a glowing recommendation. There was always the worry Belle had about the authorities or even the father coming into her door and demanding she needs to give back the child. Another fear had been Regina would call back to tell her something either went wrong or the child needed to be sent back.

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went as Belle and Bailey mainly stayed with Ruby for the holidays as she brought Dr. Whale for her date who Belle was surprise to find out was not as lecherous as he came presented himself, he even spent some time interacting with Bailey were the girl needed to do a double check to conform what they were actually witnessing, another shocker Belle discovered about the doctor had been seeing him spent the entire Thanksgiving celebration trying to win over Granny where it left the girls amused as the matriarch would not take anyone’s nonsense while giving subtle comments to Ruby. The rest of the holidays included the circle of friends getting together on New Year’s Eve with the Nolans insisting on celebrating Belle’s birthday with a summer theme BBQ which left Ruby and Ariel laughing for hours seeing David become ecstatic in using his new indoor grill six months ahead of schedule as he wore his Captain America apron.

As the months went by, Bailey grew to be a colicky baby. Belle moved a sleeping bag into the nursery in order to care for the child during the late night crying where some days, she had trouble in remembering her limits, but Bailey’s crying demand began to become an exact for Belle as every three hours it was either being fed, changed or helped in put to sleep. Knowing the status of the baby was in limbo, Belle neglected to mention Bailey to whenever she would skype with her father but she also knew it there would not have been the reasonable explanations to give where overtime she began planning the proper in time before she would fly back home. By the time it was February, Belle counted down the days until she received the news. For the start of the semester, she did take Bailey to the day-care facilities which gave her some time to breathe for a few hours in terms of listening to lectures without being reprimanded.

One afternoon, Belle came home to find no one was home but there had been tea on the coffeepot where she placed the baby to his room taking a pot then relaxing on the couch. While Bailey was sound asleep, Ruby had gone out and Belle was left to study until Ariel came inside with the mail in hand handing an envelope to Belle from the law firm.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Ariel asked.

Making a gulping sound, Belle carefully tore up the envelope with contained a large form as well as two smaller envelopes that Belle began to read over the unsealed one with Ariel hovering over her head.

**_Miss French_ **

**_I am happy to announce the paperwork went through regarding Bailey’s adoption. I am providing you with a copy as the original form is at clerk’s office along with another copy at my own office. In another letter, there will be a check from the biological mother in which you will be receiving this amount for the child’s expenses every year for the next decade where I trust by then you will be sufficient enough to support him on your own._ **

**_I wish you the best with little Bailey,_ **

**_Regina Mills_ **

Both the girls began jumping up and down nearly yelling until their screams caused Bailey to wake up. Belle agreed to go check in on him while Ariel went to call Mary Margaret and Ruby to inform them of the good news. Belle grabbed the baby from his crib soothing him as she sat on the chair rocking him back and forth.

“You’re my son now Bae, and it turns out we don’t have freak out about what is going to happen in the future. Don’t worry, I will make sure you go to the best schools and have whatever you want.” She soon realized the baby was asleep placing him back on the crib.

“I love you sweetie and I promise that to always take care of you.”

Belle kissed Bailey in the forehead once more, heading back into the living room ready to conduct her chores with Ariel this time with a positive attitude.

* * *

_Next Chapter: A Mad Birthday_


	4. A Merry Birthday

**Six Years Later**

“Okay the last of the balloons are inflated, and so far everything seems to be sorted out.” Belle declared coming down from the step ladder after spending nearly twenty minutes in placing all the gold and red balloons up on the celling throughout the house.

Belle took another sip of her water bottle as she and Mary Margaret gathered the remaining party favours throughout the living room. David had been on the back yard setting up the bounce house at the same time watching his three year old son Neal who looked similar to his father expect with Mary Margaret’s brown eyes playing on the sandbox not three feet away, while Ariel gathered all the treats indoors after telling David it would have been too cold for the kids to stay in the bounce house for a long period of time where his only response was this was all Mary Margaret and Belle’s idea. Ariel rolled her eyes at the response not bothering to argue back and watched as her friends continued preparing the house for Bailey’s sixth birthday. The party was set for another half hour in which Belle patiently waited several of the children to arrive before Ruby and Victor brought Bailey to the Nolan’s house from the movies since the boy was lead to believe Belle would be working for most of the day therefore wouldn’t suspect Belle had been planning a surprise party. The minute Bailey left the house earlier that morning, Ariel and Belle spared little time in getting everything ready. They decided their house was too small for a party of rowdy children from Bailey’s soccer team and some of his friends from school so it was decided the party would take place at the Nolan house since they had the proper yard and Mary Margaret knew many of the parents on the soccer team which made the guarantee for invites much easier allowing Belle to set up the party while Ariel gathered all the presents hidden in the closet toward the main portion of the living room.

“When is Bae going to be here?” stated Emma, the oldest child of the Nolans. Belle looked at the five year old who already began to eat some of the cookies Ariel laid out.

“Soon little swan. Although I don’t think your mother is going to be happy you are eating all the cookies right now.” Winking back at the child causing Emma to look behind her and back at her aunt.

“Don’t tell her.” Emma whispered.

“I won’t” Belle whispered back. “Go see to how your father is doing.” Indicating for Emma to leave where the little girl got the message and went towards the back yard before Mary Margaret managed to see her.

Belle looked around proud of how much everyone was able to accomplish where she began to imagine at the surprise of Bailey when he would arrive. Interrupting Belle’s thoughts came in the form of her cell phone ringing where she saw the caller and immediately placed her automated rejection text where she next received a voice message. “At some point you will have to call whoever it is back.” she asked laughing at Belle’s face when she started to blush throwing a nearby pillow towards Ariel in annoyance.

“No I don’t because unless it’s Ruby stating ‘movie is over, we are heading back’ then this phone has little priority for me over the next twenty-four hours.” Belle pointed out the last of it where Ariel just looked back with a shrug.

“Suit yourself Frenchie, considering that boyfriend of yours would want to be here to celebrate Bailey’s birthday.”

Before Belle could make a point, Mary Margaret quickly arrived from the next room which caused the women to assume she had the power to teleport “What boyfriend? Belle have you been omitting something from us?” she asked in her calm school teacher voice that would get most of the fourth graders to easily comply with Mary Margaret allowing her to have the respect of many of the parents and her colleagues.

“There is no boyfriend, my advisor just texted me to wish Bae a happy birthday. Ariel just calls him my boyfriend because we’ve been spending too much time together in getting my manuscript started, as the job of any thesis advisor if you remember Ariel!!” Belle stated defensively leaving her to blush as Mary Margaret began to look elsewhere.

“Whatever you say sweetie,” Ariel shrugged the matter, rolling her eyes heading to the refrigerator getting the cake for Mary Margaret to finishing placing the icing.

Just as they were about to finish up, there was a tap on the window causing the girls to look up seeing a tall gentleman waving at them dressed out of a Victorian novel with a top hat and purple coat donning over his jeans and waistcoat.

“Hey, Jefferson glad you made it.” Belle declared going up to him giving him a hug that made it a little difficult with the package Jefferson had been holding. “Jefferson this is Mary Margaret Nolan the co-host and my roommate Ariel Langelinie.” Belle looked back at the girls who looked memorized at the new guest.

“A real pleasure ladies. Jefferson Carroll at your service” he kissed their hands causing Ariel to blush and Mary Margaret who looked back at David as he began to give the guest a death glare. “Belle, you never told me you had such breath-taking friends.” Winking back at Ariel; followed by turning towards Mary Margaret who proudly pointed out her wedding ring causing Jefferson to lower his expression back to Ariel and Belle.

 “Wait, are you two….” Asked Mary Margaret when she began pointing them out; leaving Jefferson and Belle to look at one another than at Mary Margaret then laughing.

“No” they said laughing in unison

“His daughter is Bae’s friend at the school and Jefferson is basically my lifesaver in helping out with the parental activities if I can’t be there.”

It was that moment Ariel had a moment of clarity. “Oh you’re Gracie’s father.” Talking back to a confused Mary Margaret, “A school friend of Bae’s who sometimes comes over and stays until Belle takes her home, sweet little thing and rather cheeky.”

“Cheeky is probably not the best way to describe it” pointing to a six year old brunette in curls and a dress resembling Alice in Wonderland who was seen introducing herself to Emma where Mary Margaret couldn’t help at noticing the contrast at how her daughter looked causal in her jeans and red flannel shirt while Grace appeared to be so clean she had not wanted anyone to touch her for fear her dress would get soiled. “She’s a good kid nonetheless. Mainly takes after her mother in terms of practicality which is why she left my crazy self.” He laughed turning his attention to Belle, “Anyway, thanks Belle for the invite since I haven’t had a chance to see much of you these past few weeks.”

“Not a problem, you’re welcome to stay here if you want, we could always use an extra hand.” Belle looked at Mary Margaret and Ariel then back at Jefferson who seemed to have been staring back at her ginger friend then pondered looking back to Belle.

“Sure not a problem.” He said allowing the girls to smile at one another in relief.

“So Jefferson, may I ask what you do?” asked David as he handed Jefferson a bottle of water."

Jefferson gave them a large grin winking back at Belle thrilled to see how uncomfortable David had looked placing his hands over his chest with a posing stare. “Sure, I’m a junior partner at Midas, Gold and Arendelle; although a senior position might be considered sometimes in the near future.” It appeared David was impressed leaving the girls more calm but Mary Margaret knew a respectful occupation would not be enough for to get on David’s good graces since his job in the NYPD caused him to have a tumultuous relationship with lawyers since many have to defend the people he would spend weeks to months putting behind bars. To Mary Margaret’s surprise, as Jefferson mentioned his love for collecting baseball cards, David’s barrier broke causing two men to bond over their love of baseball and even discussing about recent win at the World Series.

Belle and Mary Margaret left them taking Neal with her having him join Emma when the children began to arrive half an hour later consisting mainly of Emma and Bailey’s teammates. To the delight of the adults, Emma and Grace behaved like proper hostesses as Emma introduced most of her friends to the small brunette while Neal began playing close by. The parents each greeting both the women but Mary Margaret was met with praise over her recent decisions at the PTA meeting and praising her for being a gracious hostess and Belle was given a few polite words which only occurred when Mary Margaret needed to correct several of the guests the party was for Bailey and not Emma. Belle knew she was not well liked amongst the parents from the soccer team mainly due to her age since many of them were older and conservative usually giving Belle a distain or pity while showing respect for Mary Margaret due to how dedicated she was in her job as a teacher and as a mother with the fundraising and being in charge of the booster club which is probably why Bailey was allowed to associate with the children. She was grateful their distain over her had not affected Bailey’s friendships with the remaining children as many of the children appeared to have even accepted Grace with open arms.

“Don’t let them get to you” Belle didn’t realize what Mary Margaret had said but she could see her friend was concerned; “I could give you dirt on Mrs. Banks that would make a soap opera writer froth at the mouth. Then there is Mrs. Peabody who is so fake that it’s a miracle that half of the booster club wants to do anything with her. Trust me when I said, that they are full of it that it sometimes shocks me how I don’t burst out laughing from their two-faced flattery.”

“I guess, although I think I would be more use to the soccer parents rather the headmistress at Bae’s new school.”

“Oh, is Bailey already having problems there?” Mary Margaret began to wonder what kind of issues would have occurred not even one month of being enrolled.

“Not really he’s doing fine there; the teachers are delighted by him. I thought he would have gotten some troubles due to it being a private school but he seems to be adjusting well with even making a friend so far. The main problem comes from the head mistress the Mother Superior whose such a….” Belle looked around leaning closer to Mary Margaret “witch.” She whispered to her ear giving causing the brunette to blush due to the shock. “You have no idea how grateful I am for Jefferson in helping me with the carpool issue, otherwise I would have gotten into bigger problems that might have started to affect him.” The girls went to get the remaining appetizers from the kitchen into the back yard finding David, Jefferson and Ariel sitting together at ease with one another.

“I see you two are now joined at the hip.” Stated Mary Margaret witnessing David and Jefferson sitting close together, leaving to laugh at the idea she might have been witnessing a conspiracy. The two men looked at one another then back at Mary Margaret. “You are welcomed to join us on Friday Jefferson, Grace too as Emma could use another person in their adventure games.”

“What’s going on Friday?” Jefferson asked

“We have a little get-together at our house usually Mary Margaret beating us all in Monopoly.” Mary Margaret looked at David with a proud grin causing him to smile back at her.

“Bring Grace along too since Emma have everyone do some kind of activity.” said Mary Margaret finishing David’s invitation.

“Sure, would love to come.”

“Excellent” Ariel and Belle proclaimed in unison.

All of a sudden, Belle received a text from Ruby stating they were turning off the block. She and Mary Margaret began to quickly get David, Ariel and Jefferson to gather the guests into the living room while telling Neal to be quiet as the toddler still had some issues being in the dark but Mary Margaret didn’t want to risk him crying so she took him from David and went upstairs for the time being as his room containing solar lamps leaving the bedroom to constantly be bright where it left some residue into the night. She also had needed to go upstairs to check on Belle’s present hoping it had not destroyed the nursery.

Emma began giggling under the table next to Belle in which she started shushing the little girl immediately silencing her. They heard the door opened with Victor making point about how the place looked like a ghost town in which Bailey asked what was going on. When Ruby yelled where everyone had been, she indicated the signal allowing David to slowly turn on the lights causing everyone to jump from under the tables, chairs, sofas and closet.

“Surprise!” Everyone yelled taking the boy aback. Belle went up to Bailey giving him a hug as she mouthed out “Thank you” towards Ruby and Victor. “Happy birthday Bae, I hope you these two didn’t hint anything.” She looked at the couple as they looked away.

“No, Aunt Ruby was telling us we were going to get Emma. Everyone is here, thanks mom you’re the best.” Bailey tightly hugged his mother causing her to tear up; she wanted to always make sure the boy would never stop smiling no matter how overboard she went.

“Alright, everyone can go play on the bounce house. We will call everyone when we start playing the games.” Declared David, he then looked at Ariel who was introducing Ruby and Victor to Jefferson. “Hey can you guys keep an eye on the kids for a second? I’m going to get Mary Margaret.”

They turned at one another then back at David. “Sure” each shrugging as David headed off. Ariel showed Jefferson towards the backyard finding Belle talking to Ruby and Victor as they appeared to be laughing about something she had not been paying attention about.

“You look like you could use a spa day.” Ariel’s attention was drifted back to Jefferson who offered her a cup of what she had hoped was fruit punch.

“Thanks” she declared.” She took a sip tasting a bit of vodka; she gave Jefferson a sour look scrunching her nose in disgust as he began laughing at her attempt of nearly twitching her tongue. “Are you crazy? This is a children’s party.”

“I’m sorry.” He said still laughing taking her cup from her. “I accidentally gave you mine.” He took his cup back from Ariel grabbing a sip and handing her the original cup. She drank it to find it to be of regular taste taking a deep breath.

“See I’m not a bad guy, although I have been known for going too far in pranks.” He winked back at the redhead as she blushed. “You know, the way you just scrunched up your face contorted remind me of this cat I had as a kid who always got her way”

“Fine I forgive you.” She looked back at the kids seeing them either at the house or playing on Emma’s castle style jungle gym. “Grace appears to be enjoying herself. Does she play any sports?”

“I wanted to get her into soccer but the coach at the school thought she was too little for it so we have to wait another year which is why I installed a basketball court on our backyard to help her practice. Although she likes to do photography, where I have been planning on building her a studio and present it to her on her birthday.”

“That is very sweet of you.” She smiled back at him.

“Anything for my little princess,” he then got into his pocket getting a vial of what might have been vodka putting it into her drink but she put her hand onto the lid preventing the liquid from going in. “I’m serious, you do look like you need to loosen up. Any troubles, kitten?” She hissed back stretching her hand at him to form claws causing Jefferson to laugh giving her a feign meow.

Ariel tried to appear as positive but she knew another minute with the charming stranger and she was sure to start crying. “Nothing that you need to worry about, although I don’t think vodka is going to help me.” She pouted heading inside the house leaving Jefferson stunned just as Mary Margaret and David arrived back not sure what they have seen. David went towards the grill to make the remaining food he had promised while Mary Margaret headed off to join the other adults who were too busy to have paid attention towards Ariel’s mood change.

The rest of the party continued with Mary Margaret and Belle coordinating most of the games the children began playing along with Ariel and Ruby placing face paint on some of the guests since Halloween was coming up within a few weeks. Mary Margaret knew from personal experience how far Ariel would go in terms of makeover where she was not looking forward to most of the parents complaining, therefore suggested to ease on the designs. It had not mattered as most of the children wanted animals designs such as a whiskers or a dog’s nose while one wanted to look like Spiderman. Emma and Bailey on the other hand defied Mary Margaret’s rule and requested to look like the Joker and Harley Quinn where Ruby wanted personally help them in completing their look.

“How do we look” Bailey and Emma asked

“Like trouble.” Belle pointed out as she and Ruby looked at one another in approval when seeing the kids who appeared to have gotten what they wanted leaving them to outdo everyone as they were frequently photographed. The kids were thrilled their dessert was ready to be eaten in the form of a large sheet ice cream cake decorated with Iron Man drawings containing six different candles of characters from The Avengers. Bailey began having trouble in blowing up the candles as his little mouth could only blow one leading Emma to help him in blowing the remaining candles which lead Emma to take the dab of the frosting and put it on the tip of her friend’s nose causing everyone in the room to laugh.

As the other children were gathering to grab a piece, Bailey began to look at the tickets from his mother’s purse in wondering how much they were. He wanted to get the Lego City Metropolis Box Set hanging on top of the other prizes in the main counter for some time now but he never had enough tickets as the games which gave him a better access to the prize were usually taken by the older kids resulting in either waiting in the lines or going to play on the other games.

Bailey heard a throat cleared turning around to find  Grace carrying two plates, trying her best not to trip as the weight began to put her unease; the boy took his plate deciding to join Grace as she was scrolling on her camera. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Trying to see if I can get a different filter that does cause the photo to be blurry due to the light.” She took a photo of Emma and Bae using a lighter contrast that caused the photo to only show the subjects in a darker tone with everything around them black. They each nodded their heads as Graced deleted it to start over.

Bailey and Grace had known one another since the first day of school as they sat next to one another in class. Their closeness came from being part of the art program where Grace’s love of photography gathered him to be constantly used as a subject while he was learning how to draw. Another factor had been Grace was too sweet where she had a fondness for adventure which immediately reminded Bailey of Emma where he was too happy they had been able to get along so well even though he having a hard time understanding Emma’s mood as she and Grace would constantly whisper at one another then start giggling whenever Bailey wanted to know what was going on.

Girls are such a strange species.

“Do you play sports Grace?” asked Emma

“Just basketball.” She could tell Emma looked at her as though she had not believed her since she was the only girl at the party wearing a dress since it was her preferred style despite her mother and Uncle Cyrus trying to state jeans would be more comfortable for her while Jefferson constantly encouraged the dresses to the point he would personally start designing them for her. “Do you play?”

“Not as much, mom gets worried I might accidentally hit Neal if I throw the ball too far.”

“I’ve got a court at home, you are welcome to come over and play sometime.” She offered her hand towards Emma who gave her out as they shook one another.

“Sure totally,” Eating a piece of cake enjoying the taste of the strawberry filling on her mouth matching with the vanilla ice cream. Emma looked over Grace smiling back at her giggling at the residue frosting on her companion’s mouth “You know Grace, you’re alright.”

“I thought the same for you.” Grace smiled back at Emma leaving Bailey confused at how they acted and all he wanted was to sit down and finish his dessert.

Girls are such a strange species indeed.

**888888**

Shortly after the adults passed around the cake, the gifts were then presented with most of the presents being either actions figures of characters from Justice League while the rest were mainly gift cards to some of his favourite places. As Bailey began thanking everyone for the presents, it became apparent most of parents were arriving to take the children home as the adults had not noticed the party was nearly over which became a disappoint for the guests as they were still on a sugar rush and wanting to continue playing.

The adults began cleaning up when Belle gathered Bailey giving him a large dark blue package which he was not sure what to expect. The boy beamed as he ripped up the paper to find it was a wooden briefcase which contained a sophisticated art set even a small booklet.

“A proper artist needs to have the proper tools.” Belle stated watching Bailey looking at the many colours from the set; he immediately hugged his mother crushing her legs.

“Thanks mom, this is the best present ever!” Bailey proclaimed as all the adults were looking at him happy to see Belle relaxed over the success of the party. 

“I want one too.” Emma asked going over to David pulling on his shirt to get the attention.

“Maybe for Christmas,” Emma was still not satisfied. She looked back at the happy placing a pout as she sat down waited for everyone to finish up and leave. _It’s not fair._ Emma’s pouting rather than cause Mary Margaret and David embarrassment were mainly ignored as everyone else thought Emma’s behaviour was her usual adorable self-due to her goal in upstaging Bailey. Grace giggled at Emma’s expense leading the little girl to look at her with death glares.With the last of the children had left, Jefferson and Grace took off reminding Belle about Bailey staying over at his apartment in Chelsea for the next few afternoons in order for the kids to get their projects ready for the school’s Open House scheduled the following week.

“Thank you so much for helping me with this party.” Stated Belle to Mary Margaret and David who were beginning to blush at the praise Belle began to give them.

“It’s no trouble” said Mary Margaret as she looked at David.

“No really, it gave me a reason to use the grill during the off season and the kids got to have fun.” David hugged Belle along with Bailey who was already exhausted from the day. They all said their goodbyes with the Nolans heading back inside, Victor drove off while Belle, Ruby and Ariel drove back to their apartment near Washington Square which they were thankful would not get cramped with the all the new toys.

After Bailey turned three, the girls began to agree it was time for Bailey to get his own room where Belle moved into Ariel’s bedroom as her room was the only one large enough to accommodate two queen size beds. Most of Belle’s belongings were in plastic wardrobes she bought where they didn’t take up much space where they each tried to adjust to sleeping difficulties as their schedules became nearly different where Belle remained in the living room during the nights she needed to study. Most of the problems in their sleeping arrangements came whenever Ariel’s fiancé; a handsome, charmless businessman from Boston named Eric would stay over. During those days, Belle would either stay over in Ruby’s room usually sleeping on her bed or on the floor leaving Belle a near grouchy mess the following morning in which at least three cups of coffee was the only way she would generate back to her cheerful self occasionally giving Ariel a long feral stare where Ruby made occasional remarks leaving Ariel to get the message resulting in a compromise where the next time Eric made a trip to Manhattan, he would stay in a hotel to make everyone else’s lives easier.

The girls decided to flip a coin over who would take a shower first when Ruby decided she would head to bed with Ariel and Belle taking turns on showering. Ariel was the first one to go in allowing Belle to see what Bailey was up to finding him looking over the different presents he got.

“Did you have a good time?” she asked interrupting his sorting.

“It was a great day, thank you mom.” He hugged her tightly nearly knocking Belle out.

“That’s good. Before I forget, we’re still going to the store tomorrow for your costumes.” Jefferson had invited Belle and Bailey to a Halloween party at his apartment where he extended the invitation to the rest of the group in which they all look uncomfortable at the idea of going until Jefferson promised them a free bar and twice the candy for the kids which sold Mary Margaret. He nodded hearing Ariel left the shower causing him to go next. Belle quickly reminded the boy she would tuck him after he was finished then she headed to the living room plopping down on the couch when she received a text message.

Like the other text messages, she ignored this one throwing her phone onto the couch with Ariel sneaking in.

"Not what you think…also Mary Margaret said she thought you were crying. What happened? Ariel looked at Belle confused when she figured out what her friend was talking about.

Ariel immediately flinched, "Oh don't worry about it; just the dramas of life, plus my eyes sometimes get dry." She quickly got up handing Belle the remote control. "I'm actually tired now; I'll leave the door open for you so you won't wake me up."

"Okay got it, night." Belle quickly focused on the channel surfing which left paying little attention towards Ariel until she threw a pillow.

Belle already heard the a door shutting which left to get up the couch heading into Bailey's bedroom to find him huddled in bed dressed in his Iron Man pajamas next to the stuffed lion Belle gave him as a toddler.

"Did you brush your teeth?" she asked.

"Yes mommy and even flossed." showing his teeth to her where Belle looked with a serious expression until she quickly grabbed Bailey and started tickling him where he began to tickle back on her waists. She quickly placed him into bed giving a kiss to the boy and one to the toy.

"Sweet dreams mommy."

"Sweet dreams to you Bae."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Gold and Belle's dates don't go exactly as planned


	5. Delighted To Meet You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this updated last week but I just got a new job and midterms are being a pain right now but getting there. :)

As Gold began looking over the Snow file, his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door revealing it to be his secretary, a sarcastic blonde in her late twenties by the name of Rose Tink who then placed a wrapped emerald package on her boss’ desk.

“Yes?” He waited for her to response on her point.

“Can I to assume there is a ring in here?” she studied the box again seeing as most of it did feel hollow in certain portions. “Maybe it’s a necklace because I can’t see you ordering an engagement ring at Tiffany’s. It is too cliché, even for you.”

“Do you have a point to this?” Irritated at the girl.

A sudden smirk appeared on her face, “You said and I quote ‘Miss Tink, the minute the package arrives stop whatever I am doing and sending it to me right away.” She said in a cartoony Scottish accent amusing Gold leaving him to place the phone back onto the receiver taking off his jacket and dark blue tie.

“Touché Miss Tink. Will you please get me the green tie in the wardrobe before I decide to fire you on the ground of butchering a proud dialect?” She complied rolling her eyes at him, heading towards the spare wardrobe her boss installed three months prior containing a week’s worth of spare clothing and toiletries. She found the tie he meant handing it to him but also included a fresh black waistcoat.

“If I was meeting my wealthy boyfriend after he cancelled on me twice, then I would hope he looks as sharp as his wallet.” She smiled with Gold becoming annoyed taking the waistcoat and exchanging both items to her.

“Shouldn’t you have a memo to type up or meet up with those friends of yours to gossip over margaritas about how much of an ogre I am being to you?” There were times Gold wondered why he had not fired Miss Tink but then he remembered she was good at her job and he did consider her practically a surrogate daughter, even though he wouldn’t tell her this but he suspected she knew.

Tink nodded her head smiling back at him. “Nah, I’m enjoying this too much.” She took the package from the desk handing to him as he finished with his tie. “You best wait until dessert if you are going to either dump her or propose since no likes to cause a scene at _Daniel_. Gold ignored his secretary heading out of the office. “Also Jefferson wanted to know if you were going to his Halloween party on next Saturday.”                                                                                                                                                

He then turned back towards Miss Tink who began to get her purse. “He knows I’m going, but is there anything he specifically said?”

Tink looked at her notes hesitate to read the message where her boss who was waiting for her. She took a deep breath as she read the message, “He also said if you are going, don’t bring Miss Green because she is not invited.”

 _Typical Jefferson_ , “Please go home Miss Tink and don’t worry, I won’t reprimand you for this.” Gold escorted Tink outside the building as he headed into the parking garage counting on the traffic intake in order to be purposely late to his date with Zelena Greene.

**88888888**

Belle gazed at her eyeshadow palate for nearly five minutes debating on what colour would suit best for her appearance. Already becoming nervous that her cell phone could ring any moment when she felt a something moving around her foot followed by a whine.

“Mickey, stop it!” playfully scolding Bailey’s puppy as he continued nuzzling her leg. The cocker spaniel looked at Belle with his huge brown eyes raising his claws on her ankles causing her to laugh at the black ball of energy.

Belle had not planned on getting a dog for Bailey, but when a frequent customer of Ruby’s; a friendly couple who went by the Dears were giving away their dog’s recent born litter, Belle began thinking about it as Ariel pointing out over during the next three weeks how a pet around the apartment wouldn’t be a bad idea since the place was big enough and Bailey was an active child already where he would be responsible in taking care of it. The proposition had not seemed terrible and it resulted in making sure Bailey wasn’t aware he would be getting a dog by moving many of the items towards the Nolans home including the puppy the morning of the party. Belle still remembered the embarrassment of Mary Margaret coming to the apartment the next morning after the party reminding her she had forgotten the puppy at her place as the original plan had been to hide him at the Nolan’s house for the day and then present the dog during the gift exchange, but between the kids enjoying themselves and the parents arriving earlier than anticipated, Mary Margaret and Belle had forgotten there as a puppy in the nursery until Mary Margaret went to tuck Neal to bed ten minutes later finding some of the nursery ransacked and a happy Emma scolding at her parents for not telling her about the puppy. It wasn’t until the next day the Nolans dropped the puppy at the apartment with Belle apologizing over and over about not answering her messages the previous night which everyone seemed to play down when the kids were too busy playing with the new member in which Bailey became instantly taken by the ten week old dog that rather than sleeping in the living room as the women expected, they would find him curled up in Bailey’s bed sleeping on the next pillow.

Already the puppy became a fixture in the apartment as he would go over to the adults whenever he would demand attention where Belle normally complied by joining Bailey to the park on a now daily basis but as she began to get ready, Mickey only made the process slower. “You look pretty mommy” stated Bailey as Belle turned around seeing the boy looking at her glistening in her sapphire dress; her chestnut hair had been in an elaborate bun that looked carefully messy and black high heeled shoes. “A real princess,” he said bowing to her as he grabbed the puppy.

“Why thank you” she curtsied to him. Turning herself back into the mirror, Belle smiled at how elaborate she went. The dress covers just one of her shoulders, leaving the other uncovered flowing down into a graceful semi-sweetheart neckline which was a tight fit for her accentuating her curves with a thin waistline and a bow wrapped around her resting gently on her belly reaching all the way down to her feet. She also wore sapphire peep toes matching her dress allowing her to wear a small necklace as to not go over the top. “Although I need to still get my face on to become a princess.” She then picked her palette handing it to him. “Which colour do you like?”

He pointed to the teal shade which Belle noticed it would give her a smoky look; she nodded and began putting on the rest of her make up. “Where are you going tonight?”

“Mr. Booth is taking me out to a restaurant.” Through the reflection, Belle noticed Bailey’s face formed a scowl when she mentioned August. “What’s wrong, I thought you liked Mr. Booth.”

He kept quiet leaving the bathroom passing through Ariel who looked confused when Bailey had not heard her greeting him lightly coughing as went into the living room. She then stared at Belle giving her a poorly attempted wolf whistle. “Hola sexy mamacita. Should Bailey and I not expect you to come home?”

Finishing her makeup, Belle gave out an unladylike snort at Ariel’s remark. “It’s not a date so expect me coming home at a reasonable time?”

All of a sudden, Ariel’s expression went from jovial began to show concern. “Whatever my professors needed to meet with me to discuss my work, it was usually in public or in their office before five in the afternoon; not at a romantic restaurant where I needed to put on a dress that screams “ready to be deflowered.”

Shocked by the admission, Belle turned around becoming more annoyed at Ariel; “the restaurant has a dress code. August and I are just colleagues, he is only taking me out to discuss my dissertation. Besides, if I wanted to date someone I would have told Bae about it first before sneaking around.”

“Belle I love you, but sometimes you can be a bit dense. He totally wants to sleep with you that it is not even funny to the point where becoming your advisor would give him the perfect excuse.” Just as Belle was about to flinch towards Ariel, the doorbell rang leaving Ariel to head by the kitchen where Belle rapidly ran towards the front door giving herself one last approval before opening the door.

“Good evening August, just give me a moment to get my bag” she smiled back at him. He continued to look professional with a stylish 6 buttons vest harbouring a narrow v-line allowing for the top to remain visible even when the suit's jacket is buttoned up with a went at the back and  two pockets on either side and there's a breast pocket which contained his pocket watch an loafer to match. He walked into the apartment carrying a red gift bag seeing Ariel in her short and sports bra and Bailey sitting on the couch watching television with his puppy sitting next to him.

“Ah there’s the birthday boy.” He said getting the child’s attention as he politely said hi to his mother’s friend. August handed his present to Bailey taking it as he looked at his mother who smiled at him in approval. “How you have grown.”

Bailey immediately looked into the bag discovering it to be a collection of fairytales in a red leather cover and elegant gold lettering. He even looked around the book finding watercolour illustrations in pivotal moments in some of the stories. “Thank you, Mr. Booth.”

August smiled back at the boy quickly turning his attention towards Belle, taking her arm as they headed out the door and into his BMW Z4 Roadster India.

They drove to a restaurant on East 65th St called _Daniel_ where Belle was glad to have dressed correctly as she was soon taken aback by the romantic and warm atmosphere. The dining room was engulfed in red furnishings surrounded by pink and champagne coloured roses giving a glow due to a combination of the chandelier lighting and the bar setting. The pair was seated into the back corner allowing Belle looking across from her table seeing her reflection as she began to take a sip of water. The waiter arrived asking them for their order, in which August began replying in broken French their orders where Belle tried so hard not hide the smirk forming across her face. It became fun to listen to her companion speak until he ordered for her a Daurade which she was lucky to have checked the menu in advance as to avoid eating shellfish. She quickly signalled at August not to order the dish where he opted out for a salad for her causing Belle to take a deep breath as she was unable to change her order...

August looked at her nonchalantly taking a sip of his glass of D’Oliveiras Boal given to them.“I apologize, but some of the staff can sometimes be vindictive whenever they hear broken French...” He pointed out.

“Je suis sur que nous ne voulons pas d’offenser quiconque” she replied back stunning her dinner companion who stood silent drinking his wine. “French was my language requirement in primary school, not exactly a language you can forget easily.”

“My apologies, you should have mentioned something.” he pointed out to her leaving Belle more annoyed.

“You appeared to be having fun.” She sarcastically pointed out drinking a bit of the wine enjoying the sweet taste. _Although I would have appreciated it you had asked me first._

Changing the subject, August quickly placed his hand over Belle’s. “You look lovely tonight Belle, not at all your usual style which I am impressed.” Belle began fidgeting as she looked at her mentor noticing the difference in the way he looked at her.

“Thank you although this dress was a last minute decision my friend Ruby suggested when we were looking through the Labour Day sales.” She leaned back on her chair maintaining her composure, “You still look…the same.”

Making a feign gasp, “I am insulted, this is a new jacket. I couldn’t have had been wearing the same one for it to have been not given a second glance.” Belle and August began to lightly laugh at one another when their appetizers arrived as they sipped their wine.

“The manuscript is going well” she declared, easing herself as she soaked in the atmosphere around her. “It is not close yet to the intended goal I had set, but I am confident in the direction its going where polishing won’t be as difficult as I had originally expected.”

“Excellent news Miss French, I would advise you to not worry about the deadline since its several months away.” He began caressing her wrist then her knuckles putting Belle on alert. “Let us not talk about your manuscript tonight, you have been rather stressed lately where good night out would do you some good.”

This news startled Belle; she had been looking forward for the past few weeks in discussing the recent updates for her manuscript since it pertained weeks of analysing different text and several nights of little sleep, perhaps she had not hid the dark circles under her eyes very well if she was being asked to not deal with work anymore. Belle resigned to the idea, eating her salad while August continued talking where she began to tune out most of the discussion with the occasional nod and shoulder shrug which did annoy her when realizing her dinner companion was prattling on not even noticing or caring if she was sleeping as long as the spotlight was on him.

_I hate it when Ariel is right….._

“Belle” quickly getting her attention seeing August staring directly at her then lowering his head down as he looked back up at her. “I have been wondering…”

He was interrupted by the waiter arrived with no entrees telling August a piece of news causing him to get frantic. He then looked at his phone raising his hand onto the desk causing some attention to the tables close by as he threw a few hundred dollar bills onto the table. “Forgive me, but I have just been informed my car has just been towed.”

The news shocked Belle, “Oh my god, I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault; apparently I might have overlooked the parking limits.” Belle began to get up when August grabbed his coat, “you don’t need to come with me, since this is my own stupid fault.” He then handed her a fifty dollar bill leaving her to raise an eyebrow some tables were still watching them.

“I can’t accept this.” She tried handing it back to him.

“The least I can do is pay for your cab fare. I can make this up to you soon.” He kissed her hand taking off before apologizing once again. Belle sat down drinking the remainder of her wine glass looking at her watch, she wasn’t done with the wine bottle, so it was better to cut her losses and stay for another few minutes before she would go home and hear the scolding Ariel give her after saying “I told you so” for nearly ten minutes.

A few moments later, she received a beautifully displayed vanilla crème brulee with cinnamon sticks as the garnish. “I didn’t order this….” She said to the waiter but he explained to her it came from the gentleman at the bar; Belle was pointed to the gentleman who raised a glass at Belle getting her attention in which she smiled back at him. She then noticed he took off from his seat and began heading towards her table; Belle got a better look at the gentleman appearing to be early forties with big dark brown eyes and grey streaks on his long hair which she was impressed to see he could pull it off, especially with an expensive three piece designer black suit with a dark green tie as the only source of colour and a cane on his right arm with a curved gold handle.

He went towards her side of the table, taking her hand and gently kissing it as he gave her a piercing stare leaving Belle fluttering. “Good evening Miss, may I keep you company for a while?”

Charmed from the Scottish accent, Belle offered the chair to him placing his cane to the side. Perhaps she wouldn’t be scolded after all.

**88888888**

Walking into _Daniel_ , Gold expected to see Zelena Greene greeting him with her signature Cheshire cat grin followed by an endless display of flattery. To Gold’s surprise, he found no one waiting for him, not even a note stating she was on her way.

Although at a second glance, it made sense for Zelena to be currently absent since she always enjoyed being fashionably late in order to attract the most attention. A trait which Gold could admit to himself was one he found rather amusing about Zelena when there was little he could think of.

For nearly a year and a half, they have had a semi-causal relationship involving dinner, a show, the occasional weekend trip to the coast, gift exchanges either on holidays or for no reason and sometimes spending a night mainly at expensive hotels or a private night at apartment. There were times Gold questioned his motivations for staying in the relationship as it included the constant criticisms from his law partner and close friend Jefferson Carroll. Despite the frequent hints Zelena occasionally gave over her dream wedding, he knew she didn’t love him no matter how many declaration she made after several orgasms while at the same time, he was not fully ready to be in a commitment no matter how hard he aunt, Cora Mills would bring up the idea of an advantageous union often leaving Gold sympathizing for both Zelena and Regina as they continued living under the domain of the formidable matriarch.

About ten minutes after Gold arrived, he received a phone call from Tink frantically explaining she had accidently made an overbooking in scheduling his appointments, scheduling the date with Zelena for the following Thursday instead. She apologized several times were Gold secretly suspected Tink deliberately sabotage his schedules for fun where he would need to give her a reprimand her if she was willing to pulling off such an immature stunt. As it happened, Gold began laughing at this fortuitous piece of news ordering another scotch at the bar.

Biding his time, Gold noticed the patrons around him, appearing to be fairly normal where one side pertained to a group of friends enjoying a dessert tray, another was a couple unable keep their eyes off of one another which was exactly what to expect to see.

Straight ahead from him, Gold glanced at another couple who looked out of place in terms of mind-set. The man was in his mid-thirties who looked like a stereotypical academic with his black rimmed glasses and tweed jacket and the girl appeared to be very lovely perhaps a bit in her early to mid-twenties if he could make a correct estimate. A second glance, he noticed the girl appeared to annoyed or upset although he didn’t blame her from the way her dating was carrying on it with his exaggerated hand gestures.

It would say something about their relationship if a complete stranger noticed the girl’s body language, she began to squirm and look around the restaurant as though she was were waiting for something to happen. In her cerulean eyes, Gold also noticed they were beginning to look heavy giving him an idea. It took all about five minutes to discover the bill was under the name August Booth in which he made a few phone calls causing Booth’s car to be sent into the city impound within the next twenty minutes. He began laughing as he saw the gleam from the girl’s face when her date made pitiful excuses even handing her money but it caused him to become the centre of attention rather than being a typical couple.

Her date left leaving the girl sulking as she sipped her wine, at part Gold felt sympathetic in seeing her looking at her phone. Gold hadn’t expected she would accept his dessert offer until she made eye contact with him smiling back where he got to see a better glimpse at her; she was a beautiful woman where her light blue dress brought out colour her eyes.

All of a sudden, he got up from his table heading over to hers offering some company, she happily agreed allowing him to sit down as he asked the waiter for another menu in which Gold ordered himself a Cerf de Boileau while recommending Belle try the Caille.

““Thank you, I was really planning on leaving before you presented the treat. August was being too much of a pompous snob.” Belle’s nerves were lowered at seeing her new companion where she noticed he was quickly studying her almost predicting her actions.

“It was telling from the far end.” Pointing out to Belle from the length he was at the bar where she blushed at the thought August practically made them into a spectacle. “Have you been seeing him long?”

“No, he’s not my boyfriend” declaring it abruptly. “August is just my Doctoral Advisor. He wanted to meet me today where I thought it presumed would pertain to my manuscript I guess he had other ideas in mind as he ignored most of what I had said.” Thinking about it further, Belle began debating about either crying or laughing at the fact she felt like the dumped prom date at this point. Another mention about August and she was certain the gentleman would have left were this time she would have felt more humiliated.

“Victoria correct?” he asked reverting Belle’s attention back.

“No, my name is Belle.”

“I meant your accent; the way you pronounced those ‘ls’, I would guess you were from Melbourne.”

Giggling at his correction, “Oh, I’m surprised you caught that because I thought it was easily covered.”

“You are covering it up fine, one of my roommates at the university was from Melbourne and would never shut up about how the differences. I was left with the impression Melbourne was the London of Australia from the way he carried on, I always assumed Sydney held this title.”

She leaned closer to him where he helped in leaning towards as she whispered into his ear avoiding enjoying the scent of his cologne. “It’s still Sydney; your roommate was just a wombat.” She winked back at him as he smiled back at her.

“That was why we were mates for one semester.” They received their entrees where Belle enjoyed the look of the food to the point where she was almost afraid of eat it because it was presented beautifully until the smell overpowered her tempting to take smaller bites.

“What part of Scotland are you from?” Belle inquisitively asked.

Gold began over enunciating his dialect, “Glasgow, wee lass. Ever been?”

“No, sadly I haven’t, but I would love to visit the Highlands one day.” Belle said absently having a mental picture of the terrains based on what she has seen in photos where she is interrupted by the sound of a clear throat quickly opening her eyes and frantically trying to appear calm. “Anyway…umm…anyway, so what about you? Waiting for someone as this isn’t the type of restaurant I could imagine you showing up just for a drink and become a one-man audience.”

“As it happens, I had a previous engagement, but it seemed she must have gotten the days mixed up when my secretary set up the appointment. It appears good help is incredibly hard to find nowadays.”                

Hearing this piece of news made Belle giddy to know someone else was probably having a worse time than she was where she began to notice he companion did not seem as broken-hearted over it as one would expect to be. “I’m sorry to hear that, I hope she wasn’t too disappointment

“It’s not matter, perhaps my secretary made a mistake when I requested the booking.”

This caught Belle off-guard, “I mean no offense, but you don’t seem to be the type of person who would let a minor incident slide.”

It appeared even though she had no idea who he was; his reputation came off with how he presented himself. “Maybe I am Father Christmas, but having the face of Vulcan hides my generosity.”

Before Belle could make a counterargument, her phone began to ring. She began hearing Ariel going hysterical stating Bailey was throwing up alarming Belle to get up from her table in grabbing her coat. Gold immediately requested the check and a box for her. “Is everything alright?”

“No it’s my son, he’s throwing up. My roommate thinks he has that bug that was going around, it was nice talking to you, but I have to go.” Belle quickly ran out of the restaurant waiting on the curb as she hailed a cab. None of the cabs were able to answer her which began to frustrate her with each second.

“If you would like, I can give you a ride home and we can also stop by at the drug store to pick up some medication.” Belle turned around finding Gold outside with his coat along with a take-out bag leaving her relieved.

“That would be great, thanks.”

 Belle followed her new friend out of the restaurant as he headed towards his Cadillac parked in the corner. Helping her into the car, Belle could not help but enjoy how roomier this car had been in contrast to August’s BMW which became more evident as they drove on where Gold placed the heater on full blast allowing Belle the ability to relax onto the seats.

“How old is your son?”

Belle took out her phone showing the recent photo of Bailey and Emma in their face paint leaving Gold amused at the sight of the children. “Bae just turned six, can sometimes be handful whenever he isn’t too energetic.”

Gold looked at the photo closely seeing something familiar about the boy with his eyes but he quickly dismissed it when seeing Belle and the boy again to get a better view. “He’s appears to be an adorable child.”

“He is, I could brag about him all day. Do you have any children?”

Belle worries over Bailey left her unable to view her surroundings leaving Gold’s expression to change when asked the question. “No, I don’t have any children. Although I have a goddaughter whose the same age and she is constantly spoiled the little imp.”

They drove off to a pharmacy finding the medicine they needed in which Belle nearly cleaned out the entire children’s cough drops, they next stopped at an opened Chinese restaurant to buy soup at Gold’s insistence where Belle became more than happy as they drove back.

He parked towards the side of the apartment where Gold was impressed to have seen she lived in a better neighbourhood than what someone of her age could have afforded. Quickly Belle grabbed her items getting out of the car. “Thank you so much for helping me. You didn’t have to this.”

“It was no trouble Miss Belle; I hope your son gets well soon.”

“Thank you sir, it’s probably going to be a week’s worth of coughing and having tell cut down on the video games.”

“It was my pleasure; I hope to hear from you sometime with a proper dinner.” He kissed her hand leaving Belle to blush as she wanted this to have gone differently. “I would love to.” She smiled back. They each said their goodbyes with Belle going inside with all thoughts on the handsome dinner companion gone when she heard the sound of coughing.

As soon as Belle made into the apartment, all her thought went into heading into Bae’s bedroom finding the boy lying in bed with his pyjamas. “Hey Bae, how are you feeling?”

The boy continued coughing with Mickey staying in the floor pointing the direction of the bed leaving Belle to check his head finding it to be warm. “Not well enough to go to school?” he spoke in a hoarse voice where Belle realized Bailey wasn’t faking this to get out of going to school.

“Yes Bae, I will call your headmistress in the morning and call you absent.” A phone call she was not looking forward to since it meant dealing with the Mother Superior more than what was necessary. She grabbed her bag getting the medicine giving it to a reluctant child who began squirming as she raised the spoon towards his mouth. “Please?” she pleaded

Bailey still had a defying expression until Belle placed the spoon close to her pretending to take a sip of the medicine. Seeing the expression on his mother’s appear to be the same as whenever they would eat something pleasant such as sweets or favourite foods, Bae took the spoon and drank the medicine absorbing the bitter aftertaste of grape. “Yuck!” he shouted leaving Belle to laugh as she took his temperature finding it to be 100 and insisting he go to bed right away.

“Mommy, can you read me a story?” Bailey pleaded as he coughed nearly every other word.

Belle looked at the pale boy grabbing one of the books from his desk then padded on the bed for Mickey to join in snuggling between mother and son leaving Belle the opportunity to recite from the book. “When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen…..”        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: A sick baby and a few inquiries


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